Should our nation’s leaders really stoop to advertising?

I hope readers looked between the lines in “Lie of the Year,” the PolitiFact.com opinion piece (Dec. 26). It offered disturbing examples of professional advertising techniques being skillfully applied by the Republican Party.

Constant repetition is an example. When it comes from a “credible source” such as television, news outlets and government leaders, the message also carries the weight of legitimacy in the minds of the public.

In this case, the phrase “government takeover of health care” was created to exploit Americans’ fear of exploding health care costs and declining access. The inaccuracy of the charge was of no consequence. It worked.

I recognize advertising designed to make me choose a particular product. What I find unnerving is seeing the same skills being applied by the leaders of my country to gain my support instead of just telling the truth and doing what’s right.